[Korean Culture & Language] 번따


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Have you ever asked for a stranger’s phone number before? While sometimes portrayed as cliché or creepy, getting a girl’s number is nonetheless one of the most common methods to advance from being strangers to something more intriguing with a girl. 

Simply by asking a girl’s number, you find out if they’d like to communicate with you. The act of asking a girl/guy for their number is called ‘번호를 따다’. In short, many people call it ‘번따’.

Ex)

나 어제 연이랑 밥 먹고 있는데 갑자기 어떤 남자가 와서 번따 했어.
One guy came over to me and asked for my number when I was having dinner with Yeoni yesterday. 

잘생겼어?
Is he handsome?

응, 키 크고 잘생겼는데 좋은 남자 같진 않아.
Yeah, he was tall and handsome. But he didn’t seem like a good guy.


In the video below, a girl who’s found out to be a pathological liar says “사람들 눈을 잘 못 마주치거든… 근데 요즘 더 심해져서 너무 힘들어 (I have a hard time looking people in the eyes… It became more difficult recently)”. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q133D3SZd0&t=30s

She continues, “나 길에 나가서 남자랑 눈 마주치잖아? 그럼 다 내 번호 따러 온다? (Every time I make an eye contact with someone on the street, they approach me and ask for my number)”. “처음에는 내가 좀 만만하게 생겼나? 해서 화장도 좀 연하게 해보고 생얼로도 나가봤거든? 그런데도 계속 그래 (At first, I was concerned that I seem like an easy girl. So I tried wearing less makeup. But they continue to ask for my number!”.

생얼 is an abbreviation of ‘생-얼굴’. ‘생’ means ‘fresh’ or ‘bare,’ and ‘얼굴’ means ‘face’. So 생얼 refers to a woman’s face with no make-up.

만만하다 means ‘easy’. Here, it refers to a girl who seems like she’d give her number easily.

Have you ever tried or experienced 번따 before? Many Koreans believe that the girls who get 번따 many times are either really pretty or appear to be kind. What do you think?


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